The man accused of killing his mother and stepfather in Seneca in 2006 has been apprehended after escaping from Bryan Psychiatric Hospital in Columbia Thursday morning.

A spokesperson for the South Carolina Department of Mental Health says 39-year-old Jason Mark Carter was taken into custody in Tennessee Friday.

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Authorities said on Thursday je walked off campus while participating in a paid-work program at the facility. That program has since been suspended.

A news release from the Department of Homeland Security in Tennessee said it appears Carter stole a van from Craft Farrow State Hospital and later purchased a Chevrolet Lumina.

The release said S.C. authorities pinged Carter's cellphone and advised authorities in Tennessee he was traveling west on Interstate 40 near exit 182.

Just before 7 a.m. a trooper observed Carter's vehicle at the Fairview Inn located off of exit 182 from Interstate 40 westbound in Williamson County.

Further investigation revealed that Carter checked into the hotel at approximately 4:30 a.m. Friday.

Tenn. state troopers on the scene contacted the agency’s Special Operations Unit, who arrived and took Carter into custody without incident at approximately 9:15 a.m.

Carter was transported to the Williamson County Jail, where he will await extradition.

The Oconee County Sheriff's Office said Carter was accused of the murders of his mother and stepfather in Seneca in 2006.

Carter was ruled incompetent to stand trial and was committed to the mental health facility. Carter was not convicted.

During his trial Carter's defense attorney said the defendant did not remember killing Kevin Perkins and Debra Ann Perkins.

Testimony showed deputies believed Carter slept, ate, and drank in the room with the two bodies, which were wrapped in plastic for three days, until police showed up at the home to check on the couple.

Neighbor Carol Spitzer said she is the one who called authorities.

"Papers were scattered all over the driveway and it wasn't like them at all," said Sptizer.

Carter was in the home when investigators discovered the bodies.

Spitzer said she was very upset when she found out Carter escaped.

"I truly believe that he is sick and needs to be kept in a place for the rest of his life where he cannot get out," said Spitzer.

Experts during Carter's trial testified that with medication, Carter's condition could be controlled. It's unclear if Carter escaped the facility with any medication.